The invention relates to a domestic appliance having an internal electrical load, a controller for controlling the internal electrical load and a communication device coupled to the controller and via which the controller sends data to additional domestic appliances and/or receives data from additional domestic appliances. The invention also relates to an appliance system comprising at least two domestic appliances and to a method for operating a domestic appliance.
It is normal in households to allow a plurality of domestic appliances to run simultaneously, namely by way of example a washing machine, a dishwasher, a tumble dryer and a refrigerator. If the domestic appliances run through the respective programs without regard for the other domestic appliances respectively, a maximum admissible power consumption may be exceeded in the household or peak loads can be generated which overload the electrical power supply. This occurs by way of example due to simultaneously switching on large loads in different domestic appliances. These large loads may, by way of example, be a heater, an electric motor and a compressor. One particular challenge with simultaneous operation of a plurality of domestic appliances lies in not exceeding the maximum admissible power consumption or configuring the power consumption of individual domestic appliances in such a way that the electrical power supply is loaded as little as possible.
An appliance system is known from EP 0 727 668 A1 which includes a large number of domestic appliances which communicate with each other. The domestic appliances communicate with each other via a communication bus. A total power consumed by the domestic appliances is measured by a measuring device. The measuring device sends data via the communication bus which include information about the respective instantaneous total power. Each domestic appliance can tap the same data at the communication bus and adjust a separate power consumption by taking the information contained in the data into consideration. The domestic appliances compare the respective momentary total power with a predetermined limiting value. If the total power exceeds the predetermined limiting value the domestic appliances reduce their own power consumption. In other words, the power consumed by the domestic appliances is only reduced if the total power has already exceeded the limiting value. Peak loads can be produced in the household as a result and these overload the electrical power supply.